Santa Fe and back - Nov 10-11

My last weekend in Colorado - and my target was Santa Fe, New Mexico. Friends had told me how outstanding the town was. Now I wanted to see myself how the American Southwest looked and if it matched my imagination... Could we set a Western movie there or not? (was John Wayne around?)
The drive from Denver was 400 miles on I-25. Since we wanted to see some more, we took the detour over Taos, a famous spot for artists and alternative life. And an area where dozens of pueblos can be visited, the typical Native American buildings in the Southwest.

Here is what we saw and experienced in 2 days in New Mexico and Southern Colorado.
The endless prairie and an endless straight Where are the cowboys?
What colours! Palisades Sill - a canyon cut by Cimarron River in North-Eastern New Mexico
More of this exceptional "official scenic historic marker" Eagle Nest Lake near Eagle Nest, NM
A ranch entrance
The Vietnam Veterans National Memorial near Angel Fire, NM. Very creepy place.
An artist's fence in Taos. How funny!
Even motels can look pretty Chilis all over the place
Downtown Taos - plastic art
More chilis
We went to see Taos Pueblo, called the landmark in Taos. In fact, we were disappointed: by the greed of the Native American who make you literally pay for every step you take and for the sight itself. It is impressive to see how their ancestors built multi-storey buildings 800 years ago but how tourists are ripped off is beyond descriptions. Since taking pictures was not included in the admission fee, I brought my camera back to the car. You have to search for their buildings somewhere else.

After lunch and a short stroll through Taos we headed towards Santa Fe which was some 70 miles to the South. On the way we passed Rio Grande and its canyon (mind-blowing). Just before sunset, we reached Santa Fe, New Mexico's capital. We had dinner in an outside courtyard of an old adobe building - awesome. The next morning was reserved for the Georgia O'Keeffe museum which is one of the highlights of Santa Fe. While walking there, the picture below was taken:
Adobe buildings as far as you can see - typical for Santa Fe
Now I'm back in Austria for some days before flying up to Hanover. I start being an adult on Dec 3 - first work day! So let's see when my next holiday is going to be...

A weekend in the Rocky Mountains around Aspen (Nov 3-4)

The next weekend was dedicated to the discovery of the Aspen and the region along Highway 285. Colorado showed itself from its best side: textbook weather and snowy mountains, but dry roads...
From Golden, we headed west on I-70 towards Silverthorne (where we did some shopping in the outlet center ☺). After a stopover for lunch at Frisco (and Dillon reservoir), we left the interstate near Copper Mountain and took US-91 ("Top of the Rockies") to Leadville, an old mining town at 10,200 ft altitude (see below). The sky was certainly at its bluest!

The shortest way from Denver to Aspen includes Independence Pass which was surprisingly still open. So we headed west on US-82 south of Leadville. The next stop was at Twin Lakes reservoir which lies picturesquely below Mt Elbert (14,400 ft = 4,401 m, the highest summit of the Rockies and the second highest in the Lower-48 after Mt Whitney, California).
After a long climb up, we finally reached Independence Pass, the summit of the Sawatch Range between Leadville and Aspen. At 12,095 ft (= 3,686 m), it is simultaneously the second highest paved road in Colorado and always closed after the first heavy snow falls in fall. This year, however, we were lucky and could take a few deep breaths of crispy mountain air before descending to Aspen.
Indepence, nowadays a ghost town in Roaring Fork valley, just below Independence Pass. It was founded in 1879 when gold was discovered which made it a thriving mining community. When the train came to Aspen and gold played out in the late 18000's, its inhabitants left this highly uncomfortable place.
Aspen downtown. No more golden leaves to see...
Galena street, Aspen.
Aspen town hall
One of the modest mountain homes which can be seen when driving through. Most of the really rich people live in more "isolated" parts of the town.
The next day we wanted to go further south and then drive back to Denver on US-285. So we crossed Independence Pass again and then followed Arkansas River south.

This is how the road looks across the mountains:

Again Twin Lake reservoir
Rocky Mountain high...
Antero reservoir, near Fairplay, CO
The prairie. The white stuff seemed to be salt.
Main street, Fairplay, CO
Voted one of the best hotdog places in the US: Coney Island (near Evergreen, CO)The menu

We enjoyed our little road trip despite loads of work for Ayoub. To be followed by...

NEW MEXICO